Most longitudinal
studies of relations between parent and child characteristics,
on the one hand, and children's behavior problems, on the
other, have been done in Western societies. Consequently,
tests of the generalizability of findings are needed for children
in other societies. A longitudinal study of 382 children living
in Beijing assessed relations between multiple parent and
child variables initially when the children were 6 to 9 years
old (Time 1) and again 3.8 years later, when they were 10
to 12 years old (Time 2). The variables included parenting
styles (authoritarian and authoritative parenting); child
temperament (effortful control and anger/frustration); negative
life events (family events, negative parent-child events,
and negative school events); coping efficacy; and externalizing
problems rated by parents, teachers, peers, and the child
participants themselves (Zhou et al., 2008). Structural equation
modeling showed that Time 2 externalizing scores based on
parent, teacher, and self ratings of ASEBA instruments were
significantly predicted by a complex combination of parent
and child variables. The strongest direct predictor was an
aggregation of multi-informant Time 1 externalizing scores.
Other predictors included authoritarian parenting (predicting
high externalizing scores), authoritative parenting (predicting
low externalizing scores), childhood tendencies to show anger
and frustration (predicting high externalizing scores), and
low socioeconomic status (predicting high externalizing scores).
Negative family, parent-child, and school events and the child's
coping efficacy mediated the effects of the other predictors
in various ways. As several of the findings were consistent
with findings in Western societies, the authors concluded
that their study "suggested that some cross-cultural
universality exists in the developmental pathways to childhood
externalizing problems" (p. 509).